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I'm thinking maybe they have a presence in Chicago too and possibly the 70 story reference might have been concerning that. I posted a YouTube video in the other thread where this project was being discussed, and it looked like the building featured was up there and was much taller than 40 stories.

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You may be right, but keep in mind, there was a lot of doubt about the former Tremont Tower, now known as Church Street Plaza, ever breaking ground too. Never say never.

The thing about Tremont was that I made light of how long it took for it to get out of the ground but I didn't question their ability to do so.

As I noted with Tradition Towers and the infamous 7-star resort, however, it's all about the track record. Here we seem to have an architect with no background as a developer, with no specific piece of land and seemingly without ties to the two major local healthcare organizations that have fought successfully cheek by jowl to prevent anyone from moving in on their turf.

Then there's the fact that this seems to have been promoted in Chicago first before bothering with Orlando. There are simply too many pieces of this that don't fit for me.

One other thing: why Orlando? Demographically, we're one of the youngest cities in Florida. A project like this would make more sense in one of the metros with a lot more retirees.

Medical tourism has been one response but that's totally unplowed ground locally and no evidence there's any expertise in this proposal to change that.

One other suggestion I heard was that if Jacksonville of all places could land the Mayo clinic then surely this could be done here. The difference is that the Davis brothers, founders of the Winn-Dixie fortune, had ties to both Jacksonville and Mayo. There's no corresponding relationship in this case to make this happen.

Until I see something about this that has more substance than a blue-sky proposal, I remain a skeptic.

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I want to believe. But "seeks equity partner" sounds like "I have an idea, but I need some money to get it off the ground."

That’s fair but that’s how everyone of these deals work. That’s neither a positive or negative at this stage. Even if the richest person alive was behind this, he/she would still be looking for equity investors.

I do think it is very unlikely they find those necessary equity partners - “grand” projects are terrible investments.

These days, grand projects are very unlikely worldwide unless they are financed by a sheikh or the government of China.

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The best comments on these boards always come in reaction to these “grand” proposals. I’m confused now about this project...

ok. So I read the article. They are like a Lincoln Properties- hold on- before Lincoln ever built a large project like this. Which means, they need tenants. So, with Nemours expanding in Lake Nona soon, Florida Hospital always expanding and ORHS also expanding, who are the gonna get? Central Fla Regional? Osceola Regional? That is a problem. And there won’t be a 50% equity partner if they can’t secure tenants.

Maybe they should convert the project into a 7 star hotel instead; that may have more legs...

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The best comments on these boards always come in reaction to these “grand” proposals. I’m confused now about this project...

ok. So I read the article. They are like a Lincoln Properties- hold on- before Lincoln ever built a large project like this. Which means, they need tenants. So, with Nemours expanding in Lake Nona soon, Florida Hospital always expanding and ORHS also expanding, who are the gonna get? Central Fla Regional? Osceola Regional? That is a problem. And there won’t be a 50% equity partner if they can’t secure tenants.

Maybe they should convert the project into a 7 star hotel instead; that may have more legs...

lol... Central Fla Regional/Osceola Regional are both HCA, which is also the partner for the UCF Teaching Hospital, so it is a very real possibility, they seem to be expanding a lot on the market at this point, building tons of free standing ERs as well. They claim they have a tenant for about a third of the space, but no indication of who that would be at this point. This is even more over the top though, as they're promising to go 100 ft taller then the current tallest building downtown. It's possible... but I'll believe it when I see it.

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FL Hospital/ORMC previously ran HCA and their fellow private firm from Louisville (whose name escapes me at the moment and with whom I think they later merged) out of Orange County without much effort. The UCF tie-in is a different animal, of course. They also delayed Nemours for the better part of a decade but that was a bit of a PR debacle for them since it involved a non-profit children's hospital.

The Disney Cast Member insurance with FL Hospital/ORHS HMOs which just began, bypassing insurance companies, only tightens the hold the two healthcare organizations have over the local market.

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The great thing about this project if it ever does get built, is that it could lead to more tall buildings being built in downtown Orlando. Developers would simply be able to say "they built a 540 foot tower," so I should be able to build a 480 foot tower (as an example).